Oct 2, 2022

Project 3: Language

For this week's project with the prompt "Language", I chose to work on the ideas of "Lost in Translation" and "Untold Stories". Specifically, I portray my life as a Vietnamese international student experiencing the cultural differences and nuances of living in America, especially the contrasting culture and language aspect of the two countries. In the film, I speak in Vietnamese things I often said, mostly with regards to being busy and attending classes. On the other hand, in English I say things that are related to football and extracurriculars. However, I created a visual connection between these two types of seemingly contrasting phrases through outfits depicting the idea of losing myself and having an identity crisis, speaking in Vietnamese in a football uniform and speaking English in my normal clothing. Furthermore, the clips are color-graded to depict trauma and trigger emotional reactions from the audience.

The first scene of the movie depicts one of the common problems that I face: mixing between Vietnamese and English keyboards while typing. Part of the problem is the fact that both of them have Latin roots, causing unawareness and trouble for people when they want to type something.

The film then switches to the football locker room, where most of the "trauma" and "identity crises" happen. Playing the role of not only a Vietnamese international student but also a football player, I face both interesting and chaotic issues. Besides the idea of protection under the helmet, I wanted to head towards another direction, portraying it as suffocating and thus connecting it to the idea of being homesick and not belonging.

The film ends abruptly as I was about to open my mouth and speak, this time not revealing which language I am going to speak in.

I realized after making this project that I probably should plan things ahead a bit earlier, given the fact that the film requires scenes and props that takes a while to get hold of. However, I am proud that I was able to come up with a final product in a medium that I am not at all familiar with, and take the steps I needed to finish all the scenes in various locations around the school. Working on the film has also forced me to communicate and ask help from people in my dorm, strangers outside, and my football teammates, which I find to be a very interesting and useful experience.

Materials: - LED lights

- IPhone Camera

- Football Uniform

- Football Gloves

- Laptop

Footage from recordings: